Walden Post: Was Thoreau's time at Walden Pond wasted?

During Thoreau’s time at Walden Pond, he was able to escape city life in an effort to find the meaning of life in nature. Thoreau spent two years finding his own natural philosophy through living in simplicity. Although Thoreau left his cabin after two years, his time spent at the cabin was not wasted. Thoreau obsessed over the idea of progress. His ideas consisted over whether or not progress was good or bad, or destructive or helpful. He was considered one of the ‘greenest’ writers of his time for his environmental ideas. During Thoreau’s time at Walden Pond, Thoreau was able to find meaning in his life. His ideas in modern progress and the environment were amazingly thought out, and in some cases very specific. Although Thoreau spent two years in a cabin at Walden Pond, only to leave, the work that he gained from the experience became very worthwhile and inspirational.

            

 Thoreau placed himself in a cabin at Walden Pond to become one with nature. He was able to live his life to the fullest by living in complete simplicity. And he believed that to find the most essential facts of life, living in simplicity was the way to do it. “I wanted to … live sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life,” (Thoreau 490). He found technology in his era to be quite wasteful and destructive, and preached ideas that supported and were similar to environmental viewpoints today. An example of technology from his time would be the introduction of pencils to his modern society. He argued that pencils, although useful, were destructive to the environment, and posed as a threat to nature. He spoke of how pencils would lead to destruction of forests because they needed wood, which would require the cutting down of trees. Thoreau spent two years in a cabin because he strived to find to find the meaning of life. Through finding the meaning of life he would be able to prove how certain technologies were destructive and trivial and could be replaced with a simplified way of living. Thoreau’s time at Walden Pond allowed him to argue the necessity of destructive or wasteful technologies.

http://www.tm.org/blog/enlightenment/henry-david-thoreau/ 

Thoreau argues that life has a specific meaning, and that modern life is trivial and should be simplified. Through his findings at Walden Pond, Thoreau showed his belief in living an essential lifestyle. He argued that citizens in his time period lived in a hurry and wasted their lives. He was also very specific when he argued that things like railroads and post offices would not be necessary if people would just stay home and live life to the fullest without wondering over other trivial things in the world. “But if we stay at home and mind our business, who will want railroads” (Thoreau 491)? Thoreau argues that all life in and around technology or ‘progress’ is destructive, and shows a negative viewpoint towards thing like newspapers in general. “If we read one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or house burned…-we need never read of another. One is enough” (Thoreau 492). His description of newspapers shows how negative modern progressions can be. He describes that if we didn’t waste our time with these modern distractions, nature would allow us to live our lives to the fullest.

http://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/think-outsourcing-is-a-new-problem-they-did-in-the-1800s-too.html

During Thoreau’s time at Walden Pond, he went on a trip of philosophical discovery. He argued that everything outside of nature was trivial, and that to live life to the fullest, one would have to live in simplicity. He describes the negative behind post offices, newspapers, and railroads, and how when these things were given up, one could live happily without the hurried lifestyle of modern cities. Through Thoreau’s time spent at Walden Pond, Thoreau discovered meaning behind his life through living in simplicity. The works that Thoreau gained from his experience in his cabin for two years reflects very environmentalist ideas, and support an essential lifestyle. Although Thoreau spent two years in a cabin at Walden Pond, only to leave, the work that he gained from the experience became very worthwhile and inspirational.

http://kamipiula.net/contractual-walden-pond-henry-david-thoreau/